After watching the documentary film “Heart of the
Andes” about school children in a poor Peruvian community, students at several
southern Utah schools have been inspired to contribute to the cause of helping
in a very creative way.
To serve as centerpieces at this year’s Heart
Walk Foundation Benefit Dinner & Auction, students have been working
diligently to make stained glass bud vases and paper poppies to help children
in Peru. The student artwork will be auctioned at the Feb. 22 event and
proceeds will be donated to Heart Walk Foundation to fund schools in Peru.
“These students are doing something very important,”
said Stacy Christensen, Heart Walk Foundation event art director. “They are
literally using their creative power to help children their age in a remote
area of Peru.”
Participating schools include Springdale
Elementary in Zion Canyon (teacher Edyth Lang), Three Falls Elementary in
Hurricane, Utah (Teresa Seese), Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School in St. George,
Utah (Angie Frabisilio and Julie Green), and home-school student Massimo
Zambella of Springdale, Utah.
“It has been an amazing learning experience for
the students to see what conditions are like in third-world countries,” says
Christensen. “Their artwork is beautiful and they are truly making a heart to
heart connection by helping.”
According to Teresa
Seese, a third grade teacher at Three Falls Elementary, “After watching ‘Heart
of the Andes,’ my students have been very excited to be involved with making
centerpieces and to show their support for Romario, an 11-year-old boy who
overcomes daily adversity and loneliness just to be able to attend school.”
Christensen said the seed of this year’s art
project to benefit Peruvian children started in 2012 when she and her husband took
their 13-year-old son, Lorin Whitaker, to Peru. For a full school quarter, the
family traveled studying Peruvian culture and taught at the Heart Walk
Foundation School at Hueccouno, Peru. “As a family, we decided to take a
cross-cultural art project with us,” she said.
The project began with filming a kindergarten
class at Springdale Elementary School doing a rhythm routine with plastic cups.
Lorin then delivered the video routine on a laptop computer to the children at
Hueccouno and proceeded to teach the children the routine with a grand finale
performance for the entire school.
“The experience made me appreciate my education,”
Lorin said. “It was really an eye-opening experience to see that kids who have
so little are so happy to be together and especially to be in school.”
According to Christensen, this year’s art project
with Washington County schools is also helping children in Peru. More than 70
adult hours have been contributed for organization, design and execution of the
project. More than 230 hours student hours have been contributed.
The mission
of HWF is to support the preservation of the Q’ero people and their native
culture and traditional community living through improved agriculture,
education, and health initiatives. For more information about the Feb. 22 Heart
Walk Foundation Dinner & Auction, or to purchase tickets, go to heartwalkfoundation.org.
END
Additional Quotes from
Participating Teachers:
“Our
students recently finished an intensive study on the use of color as an
artistic tool. As a culminating event the students were invited to create the
colorful vases that would become the support structure for the poppies that
would be created by another group of students. The fourth and fifth grades
meticulously selected the squares of tissue paper that would forever add beauty
to their vase. After completing the work on two vases, students were introduced
to the children of Peru. Springdale students were shocked to learn that one
child in the film has to live apart from his family in order to get and
education. They wondered how this same child came to choose a math book as his
favorite book. The biggest realization was that they, through art, could change
daily life for another.”
– Edyth Lang, Springdale Elementary
“It is exciting to see
art bringing students from very different cultures to a common place – the
enjoyment of the creative process. This sharing touched my students in a rich
cultural exchange. Students felt enjoyed being able to help students students
in a far-away place.”
–
Angie Frabisilio, Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School Art Teacher
“I think
the biggest thing that the project brought to my students was
awareness. They are so privileged here that it was really good for them to
see the sacrifices some people have to make to get an education. Romario's
story touched them. Several students mentioned that they wanted to cry when
they heard his story. After watching the documentary, they were really excited
to help.”
– Julie Green, Sunrise Ridge Intermediate School Art Teacher
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